Woman dies after car goes into southeast side retention pond

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A woman was pronounced dead Thursday after her car went into a retention pond on the southeast side.

The car was fully submerged in a pond at East Thompson Road and Five Points Road. According to the Indianapolis Fire Department, firefighters were dispatched to the location around 10 a.m.

Witnesses reported seeing the car go into the water with a woman behind the wheel. They said the driver appeared to be slumped over while going westbound on Thompson. The car hit a telephone pole while going through a roundabout and went into the pond. The car was quickly submerged in the water.

Dive teams from IFD, Greenwood and Pike Township were called to the scene to search for the car and driver. A witness helped guide the dive teams to the car, and divers pulled the driver, 88-year-old Doris Corn, out of the water.

She was transported to Eskenazi Hospital, where fire officials say she was pronounced dead at about 11:44 a.m.

IFD Battalion Chief Rita Reith said rescuers had difficulty getting the car’s windows open; their tools kept breaking under the water. She was driving a 1998 Cadillac Eldorado.

A total of four divers went in; Greenwood divers were able to get the woman out. One Pike Township diver suffered a slight hand injury while hooking a line to the car for the wrecker.

“It’s a heart-wrenching accident,” Reith said. “IMPD is investigating. We don’t know why she went into the water, although witnesses did say she was slumped over the wheel.”

Reith said accounts from eyewitnesses allowed them to respond quickly to the scene. The retention pond is 30 or 40 feet deep, and without help from witnesses, locating the car could have taken much longer.